Mass Control: Battles of the ReaperAlliance war
by RPMasterweaver
Summary: The New Alliance of Free Stars and the Citadel Council have always had something of a strenuous relationship; while they have never gone to war with each other, ideological differences have prevented a true unification. So, as a gesture of goodwill, they agree to make Captain Shepard Zelnick of the Vindicator a spectre... just in time for the Kohr-ah to find another Sa-Matra.
1. Prologue: The Final Touches

_ In the year 2163, a fleet of Yehat Terminator ships entered the Pranas system, making contact with the Salarians crewing the local fuel depot. This seemingly innocuous first meeting would signal a significant shift in galactic politics; not only was this new race using a previously unknown method of FTL travel which did not rely on Element Zero, but they were merely scouts for of a hitherto undiscovered galactic power: the New Alliance Of Free Stars. Members of the Citadel Council was overwhelmed to find sixteen races having bonded together without the use of Mass Effect technology, as well as discovering nine unassociated races in their region of space and records of a previously existing galactic union rendered extinct millennia ago. For their part, the New Alliance of Free Stars welcomed relations with the Citadel Council; after the devastating Ur-Quan conflict any new friends were a pleasant surprise._

_ Despite the cordial relations, however, the races of the New Alliance grew concerned over some of the Council's methods and laws. The treatment of Artificial Intelligences disturbed them, as the Alliance Chmmr were themselves partially artificial intelligences, and their special tactics and reconnaissance force occasionally used methods that they found questionable. The Council, in turn, felt that the entire concept of an ancient galaxy-wide doctrinal conflict which had somehow entirely escaped their notice to be suspect, and considered the haphazard military starship construction laws of the Alliance to be dangerously ignorant. Eventually, the two powers agreed to allow each other embassies through which to directly negotiate, allowing their various member governments to handle trade agreements on a local level. As part of the agreement, the Precursor/Prothean shipyard located on Unzervalt would be crewed by representatives from both factions. However, a combination of design modifications, political interference, the Council/Kohr-Ah war, and the Annexation of Rannoch delayed completion of the second Flagship until 2183..._

* * *

Shepard Zelnick smiled to himself as he patted the landing strut of the massive starship. "Hey there, girl. Nice to finally meet ya... I hope you do as well as your big sister."

His eyes drifted toward the engine rails; a small crew of engineers were working on the final adjustments to the maneuvering modules, screwing the new Mass Effect channels into the last of the available slots. Already an air of anticipation pervaded the dockyard; everywhere he looked, people of multiple races were quietly conversing and looking up at the new Flagship.

"...you still need a name, don't you?" Shepard rubbed his chin thoughtfully, looking up at the vessel's prow. "Something... something about unity, about the friendship of all races. Hmm."

"A noble sentiment."

Shepard turned towards the flanging voice, nodding politely to the turian behind him. "It's something I hold in high regard. Every race deserves the chance to flourish, and by working in unison we can achieve things greater than what we could on our own.

The turian nodded in agreement, his mandibles tilting slightly outward in his own version of a smile. "Better to live in harmony then reign in tyranny. That's something the spirits taught us eons ago."

"...The Harmonious Unison." The human looked back at the ship, patting the landing strut again. "Yes, yes I think that's her name." He returned his attention to the turian and held out his hand. "Shepard Zelnick, sir."

"Nihlus Kryik." The turian grasped the hand in his talons and shook it firmly. "It is an honor to meet you, of course."

Shepard chuckled and shook his head, waving off the compliment. "I'm just an ordinary man who happened to be in the right place at the right time."

"That may be how you started," thrummed another new speaker, hovering towards them with the faintest electrical crackle. "But it cannot be denied you have rather unique experience."

Shepard looked askance at the floating collection of crystals, noting the blue cyberring's serial code. "Chancellor Oodna, a pleasure as always. Forgive my curiosity, but why aren't you on the citadel right now?"

"This is a matter of some political significance," the chmmr explained. "Delegates from each of the Citadel races will be here to watch the launching ceremony, and so I have agreed to be the representative of the Alliance as a whole."

"That makes sense..."

"There is, however, another matter." Oodna rotated his directional scanner to Nihlus. "I believe this is your field of expertise?"

The turian nodded, turning to Shepard. "You already know that the... Harmonious Unison is meant to be a collaborative effort between the Council and the Alliance. Of course, the Council wants to ensure such a powerful Prothean ship is under equal command of both factions. So I've been asked to join you."

"As a co-captain?"

"Officially, yes. Unofficially, I'm your examiner. You're being considered for the Spectres."

The human narrowed his eyes. "I'm an Alliance citizen. Wouldn't that be illegal?"

"Not technically."

"This is a major fortification of our alliance with the council," Oodna interjected. "There may be some conflict of interest, but I trust in your judgment. Hopefully, allowing them an agent native to Alliance space will appease them. After the Kohr-Ah..."

Shepard sighed, clasping his forehead. "I see. Alright, fine. I better go tell Tali about this..."

"Tali?" Nihlus asked.

"The chief engineer. She's quarian, so..."

"Ah."

"Relax. She might be a bit fiery but she's a professional. I wouldn't have let her aboard if I didn't trust her skills implicitly."

"I have no problem with quarians," Nihlus assured the captain. "If she doesn't make it an issue, I won't provoke her."

"Good enough for me. Are there any other surprises or am I free to go?"

"We have determined the first mission of the Harmonious Unison." Oodna separated a digipad from his cyberring, orbiting it to the captain. "There's a Prothean beacon on the planet Eden Prime. You are to take the Harmonious Unison there, obtain the beacon, and bring it to the Citadel for examination."

Shepard took the pad and scanned through the information. "Sounds simple enough."

"Let's hope it stays that way." Nihlus shook his head. "Eden Prime is a colony world, and Prothean relics are priceless. No telling who would take a chance to snap it up..."

* * *

_**Codex Entry: Shepard Zelnick**_

_A human of wide renown, Shepard Zelnick captained the Vindicator after its construction. His first task on leaving Unzervalt was to determine why Earth had cut off communications with the colony; when he arrived, he found that the human's homeworld had been slave shielded by the Ur-Quan Kzer-Za. This prompted him to gather allies from other members of the former Alliance of Free Stars, during which time he healed a number of alien cultures through diplomacy and occasional warfare. He was also responsible for the destruction of the Sa-Matra, a primary general in the Citadel/Kohr-Ah war, and a confidant of the elusive Arilou Lalee'lay._


	2. Chapter 1: Spectre Tour

Shepard glanced at a blinking screen. "Alright, mister Moreau, we're clear to launch. Let's get this girl into space, shall we?"

"Yes sir! Activating atmospheric liftjets."

Nihlus started. "This thing has atmospheric thrusters?"

"Yes..." The pilot gave him a look. "How did you think we were going to get it off the planet in the first place?"

"Honestly, I expected some variant of Avatar gravity well technology." The spectre rubbed his carapace fringe awkwardly. "Then again, you built a _dreadnought _on a planetary surface..."

"Trust me, kid, when you're flying Alliance surprises are practically guaranteed. Entering the stratosphere."

Nihlus snorted. "I'm at least a year older than you."

"And no sense of humor. At least the captain has one. By the way, captain, 'Harmonious Unison?' Why couldn't you pick something less girly, like 'Normandy' or something?"

Shepard rolled his eyes. "I figured I'd make a statement about my intent for the ship."

"Well, I'm sure the Pkunk will like it."

"Tell you what, mister Moreau, whenever I captain the [i]next[/i] Vindicator class ship I'll name it Normandy just for you."

The pilot chuckled. "I'd like that. Entering the mesosphere. Will I get to pilot her too?"

"I hate to interrupt this _intriguing _conversation," Nihlus interjected, "but I think we should determine how we're going to complete our mission. Mister Moreau seems to have things under control here."

"We'll need to refuel once we hit orbit anyway," Shepard agreed amicably, waving a hand toward the door. "Why don't I give you the tour while we talk it over? Commander Perz'oni, you have the bridge."

The pilot shot a look over his shoulder as the two of them left the bridge. "That guy gives me the creeps."

"He's here on Council business," the commander reminded him, curling his leaves. "I'm sure Shepard can keep him in line."

"Not that. Did you see how he looked at me?" The pilot shook his head. "Guy like that, he could blow up without any warning."

* * *

"These are the spinal tramlines," Shepard announced, gesturing to the massive ring with four large ports. "Each ship module is attached to two tram rings, and there's an additional tram ring here in the command center and back at engineering. The rings can rotate incoming tram cars to the module entrance or into one of four individual storage caches each ring has. There's a total of sixty four different tram cars, each with enough space for four Ur-Quan in heat and then some. Please don't ask how I know that, it was a weird day."

"Sounds unwieldy."

"Oh, it was."

Nihlus raised an eyecrest. "I meant the tram system."

"Heh." The captain rolled his eyes as he tapped a panel to summon a tram car. "No more unwieldy than the citadel elevators."

"You have a point," the turian conceded. "Should I be worried about stepping into-"

"We had to replace that tram car, it was too damaged to use." The captain smiled as the tram car arrived, standing aside and gesturing Nihlus in. "Shall we?"

The turian stepped in, looking around at the sheer space. "This is... rather extravagant for a glorified elevator."

"As far as we can tell, the Precursors were huge. Maybe six of them could fit in here." Shepard shrugged. "Makes crew distribution very easy though..."

"Most Prothean ruins I've seen are somewhat... tighter."

The captain sighed as he keyed a number into the control panel. "Weeeeell... there is the two hundred thirty thousand year gap." There was the tiniest of lurches before the car hummed along the line.

Nihlus crossed his arms. "Don't tell me you subscribe to the Divide theory."

"It's more my belief they genetically modified themselves into forms more... suitable for space travel. They did create the Mycon." The car jolted to stop for a moment, before it started moving at a far slower rate. "We're about to enter module one. It's an ion bolt cannon module, so it's mostly just the ionization chamber and lots of support decks." After a final shudder, the door slid open with a polite ding. Shepard stepped out onto a wide strip of metal with railing, gripping the metal bar with one hand and waving at the massive cylinder humming with electromagnetic energy. "That monster right there is responsible for the forward shooting guns! Alpha turret bolts get negatively charged, Beta turret bolts are positively charged! Of course the entire inside of the turret is grounded, and the computer makes sure both bolts hit the same target!"

"The legendary Alliance energy weapons," Nihlus shouted. "Nothing but a glorified tazer!"

"Trust me, the charge in these things are dangerous! Well, once we overload any energy shields... And anyway, these are unique to the Vindicator class, and they're the weakest weapon module there is!"

"Why not put in one of the stronger modules?"

"Right now this is a ship of peace! If we need to go to war we'll stop by a spaceport and have the engineers swap this out for a more powerful weapon!"

"Still, better to be prepared then to have to stop by a station and upgrade!"

"Normally I'd agree with you," Shepard allowed, "but I had to make allowances for politics in this venture! The Alliance bigwigs were almost certain that some council volunteers would be spies, so they only let me have the most basic weapon module to start out with!"

"They were probably right!" Nihlus conceded. "The salarians at the very least would have sent in some STG agents-!"

"The Council crew was comprised of idiots!" shouted a newcomer already storming out the tram car door with something clutched under her arm. "They wanted me to put mass effect drivers in the bolt turrets! That would ruin the ionization and neutralize the effectiveness of the cannon!" She waved at the electromagnetic generator, the digital display on her enviro-suit's mask flickering into an irritated yellow pattern. "I had a hard enough time making sure that this module would survive a mass effect field at all!"

"Really?"

"The static electric charge built up by eezo FTL would discharge in this room and fry the circuits throughout the whole module if I hadn't run a grounding wire through the tram lines!"

Shepard shook his head and chuckled. "Sometimes the simplest solutions are the best! Nihlus, allow me to introduce Tali'Zorah nar Raya, chief engineer of this humble vessel!"

"Humble?" the quarian grumbled."This vessel is about as humble as the VUX!" Her mask turned a suspicious grey as she peered at Nihlus. "I don't recall a Nihlus being part of the crew!"

"The Council asked for a Spectre observer!" explained the captain.

"Oh, I see! Makes perfect sense!"

Nihlus clicked his mandibles together. "Tali'Zorah... you wouldn't happen to be related to Rael'Zorah, would you?"

"Yes, he was my father!"

"I met him during the battle of Altakiril!" Nihlus shook his head sadly. "He was a good man!"

"Oh." Tali's mask deepened to an embarrassed azure pattern. "Yes, he was... The Utwig on this ship make a great Hunjrin mosh! Maybe we could, uh, talk later?"

"I'll see if I can spare the time!" The spectre jerked a thumb at Shepard. "I'm supposed to keep a close eye on him, though, so no promises!"

"I can see your problem! The bosh'tet just drained an entire fuel module to get us into orbit!"

The captain chuckled. "Now you know why I never landed my last ship during the Second Doctrinal Conflict! Even without any modules the old girl was a hassle to get out of gravity wells!" His eyes drifted to the object in Tali's hand. "Is... is that a bedroll?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep in the crew module! Too quiet!" Tali shrugged. "Don't worry, sir, I'm not going to go off duty just yet! Just setting up a space out of the way for later! Maybe one of the maintenance tunnels!"

"If you think that's best!" Shepard shouted back. "As for me, I'm going to keep giving our Spectre friend the tour!" With a parting nod to his engineer, the captain swept his arm back to the tramcar, following Nihlus back in and tapping another number into the controls as he absently rubbed his ears. "I don't know how she stands the noise..."

The turian massaged his mandibles. "She may have some sort of audio filter in her suit. I wouldn't be surprised." He glanced over Shepard's shoulder. "Are the trams the only way into the modules?"

"No, there are connecting ports in the engine rails. The trams are just the quickest way around the ship." Shepard smiled at an image on the panel. "And we've docked with the space station, so module four is being refilled."

"I take it module four is a fuel tank?"

"Mmmhmm. We're actually going to module five, it's the first of the crew modules."

Nihlus raised an eyecrest. "Any reason we're skipping over three?"

"Module two is the same as module one, and module three has our weapons tracking system." Shepard rolled his eyes. "Can't let a Council Spectre in there, no offense."

"Are there any other places I'm not allowed?"

Shepard's eyes tracked over the panel swiftly. "Module six is a loading bay, module seven is our Mass Effect chamber, modules eight through ten are just modules four through six all over again... and we left the rear six module slots empty for now. So, no, you're allowed everywhere but module two."

"I'll keep out of the Forbidden Room then."

"Trust me, that wasn't my idea. Way I see it, you only got your position because you can be trusted with it..."

* * *

_**Codex Entry: The Vindicator**_

_The flagship of the rebellion during the Second Doctrinal Conflict, the Vindicator was made using the Precursor facility uncovered by the Unzervalt colony. It was quite obvious that the ship was originally meant to be a multipurpose model, since the design consisted of a skeletal frame with interchangeable airtight modules for decks; the colony was only able to create the most basic of loadouts, however, and the ship was sent into space with barely any crew. Despite this, the Vindicator not only made it to Earth, but managed to fly around the entire sector and became the center of an incredible successful Kzer-Za resistance. Unfortunately, in order to destroy the Sa-matra, the Vindicator had to be destroyed while docked with the other ship; the crew managed to get into the escape pods moments before the explosion, and were picked up by the escort fleet._


End file.
